Brendan Pelley
Brendan Pelley was a contestant on Season 14 of Hell's Kitchen. He ranked in 13th place. Personality Despite touting himself as a well-versed chef, Brendan proved to be the opposite as he could not deliver what he knew, and was seen by his teammates as a weak link that resulted in clashes with Milly, Nick, and Adam. His extremely inconsistent performances in the kitchen led to his downfall. Season 14 Episode 1 When the chefs arrived at Hell's Kitchen, the doors were locked, and they noticed that Ramsay was on the roof, who said that in order to see if the chefs were 100% committed, they would jump onto an air mattress from the roof. While Brendan was more eager to jump off after seeing Enrique and Ruth doing it, Ramsay revealed that it was not necessary as those two were actually stunt people, and asked the chefs to cook their signature dishes. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Brendan was the second person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Christine. He made a tempura soft shell crab with ginger sauce, Ramsay praised it for being nicely done, and he scored four points. The blue team won the challenge 31-28, and they were rewarded with a Hummer limousine ride to Saint Rocke, in Hermosa Beach, to meet William Shatner, and had a picture taken with him and Billy Sherwood. During the reward, he was starstrucked over seeing Shatner, and said that it would give him some serious street nerd cred. During dinner service, Brendan was on the garnish station with Randy. He was not seen at all, and the blue team won the service. Episode 2 During the Crab Challenge, Brendan was in a boat with Nick, Milly, Cameron, and Adam during the first part, and they were seen collecting five crabs. During the second part, he was paired with Cameron, and they were seen getting two of their attempts accepted. The blue team lost the challenge 7-10, and they were punished by prepping shrimp, clams, and lobster for a seafood special during the next service. During the punishment, Brendan complained that he had a lot of shrimp up to his neck and about having sand up his butt crack, and called it a fucking nightmare. Then, he felt that Cameron was delusional on how good he was after the latter started telling the men what to do. During dinner service, Brendan was on the fish station with Cameron. At one point, he was dismayed after Cameron got confused despite communicating with Milly, and later, managed to get his scallops accepted. However, while he decided to take the lead after the men’s slow start, his salmon was burnt on one side, and Ramsay forced him and Cameron to eat their mistake at the chefs table. When he came back, his scallops were raw, and he was kicked out of the kitchen, along with Cameron and Michael. Back in the dorms, he deemed it very embarrassing, and was very disappointed in his poor performance. Despite Cameron trying to reassure him that he was not going home, he was doubtful. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people. During deliberation, Brendan was considered by Milly and Bret. He was not nominated for elimination. Episode 3 The next day, Brendan complained about Sous Chef James' wake up call. During the Alaskan Fish Challenge, he was paired with Bret, and they were seen getting their trout pieces accepted during the first part. They were the first pair from the blue team to have their dishes judged, and went up against Meghan and T from the red team. He made a grilled rainbow trout with grapefruit vinaigrette, and while it was criticized for an iffy vinaigrette, the blue team won the round. The blue team lost the challenge 1-3, and they were punished by taking part in Seafood Delivery day, prepping the fish for the following service, and eating a peanut butter and jellyfish sandwich. During the punishment, Brendan was seen burping a lot after eating his sandwich. During dinner service, Brendan was on the meat station with Nick. He was not seen much, except when he sent Nick's raw lamb. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each. He was not nominated for elimination. Episode 4 During the American Classics Challenge, Brendan was scared shitless over playing football as he was a food nerd. He was paired with Adam on the spaghetti, he was the last person from the blue team to have his dish judged, and went up against Sarah. He made a spaghetti carbonara with shitake mushrooms and shrimp, and while it was praised for being well balanced, he lost the round to Sarah. The blue team lost the challenge after a tie breaker at 2, and they were punished by taking deliveries of 500 pounds of onions, and prepping them for the next service. During the punishment, Brendan complained that his eyes stung. During the Family Night dinner service, Brendan was on the appetizer station with Bret. He was not seen much, but at one point, he wanted to show Ramsay what he had, but sent an under portioned serving of risotto. The blue team won the service. Episode 5 During the International Cheese Challenge, Brendan went up against Alison, and their dish was croquettes, although he admitted that he had no idea what that dish was. He was the fifth person from the blue team to have his dish judged by Ramsay, and presented his Emmental croquette with gnocchi. Ramsay criticized it for not being a traditional croquette, and he lost the round to Alison. The blue team lost the challenge 4-5, and they were punished by taking a delivery of a giant wheel of Parmesan cheese, breaking it down, and grating it for the following service. During dinner service, Brendan was on the meat station. Despite remembering how poorly his last service on meat went, he forgot another order of lamb for the ticket, and then, revealed that his second lamb was overcooked, forcing the men to start over. Later, he continued to struggle on the refire, and announced that he needed 15 more minutes on his lamb. That led the men to wait for that time period, and Ramsay not only berated him for stopping the kitchen, but the men for not stepping up as leaders like he expected. Despite that, his lamb refire was accepted, and the blue team won the service. Episode 6 During the Firefighter Service Challenge, Brendan was on the garnish station with Bret. He knew that he could not fuck up as his grandfather was a biker, and later, was dismayed when Milly served raw chicken and asked how the latter could screw that up. The blue team won the challenge, and they were rewarded with a tour at the Malibu vineyard which included a safari tour, and dinner. During the reward, Brendan felt amazing as he was not in Hell’s Kitchen at the moment, glad that the blue team was not in the kitchen again, and felt that they fucking earned it. During dinner service, Brendan was on the fish station with Nick. He did not communicate with the latter on the salmon as he wanted to be the hero, and sent it up despite Nick's concerns. However, Ramsay saw that it was raw, showed it to the whole team, asked if they called it redemption, and he was accused of not being able to produce what he knew about food by Milly. While his refire was accepted, he told Josh that he needed to refire his halibut, which screwed the latter up. Later, he was cooking fish not to order, served raw halibut, and got kicked out of the kitchen, along with Nick. The blue team lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Brendan was called a complete disaster by Adam, but he did agree with the latter that Nick should have helped him, and accused him of letting him sink. Then, Milly accused him of being like the people that were more successful than him, but could not get on the line and burn, and was told to go back to the line. However, he felt that Milly was directing all of his pent up anger from the past that was not his fault. Brendan was the blue team's first nominee for elimination, with Nick being the second. During his plea, Nick accused him of taking the lead and collapsing when he shut down, but he retorted that while he did panic, he believed that the blue team left him to sink. He was eliminated for his inconsistent performances, refusal to admit to his mistakes, and before leaving, Ramsay told him to get back on the line. During his exit interview, he compared the blue team to kids, said that they should be dishwashers at his restaurant, and believed that Ramsay made the wrong decision. Ramsay's comment: "Brendan considers himself a well-read chef. Unfortunately, it's only his books that have a spine." Nomination history Trivia *After his appearance on the show, he returned to Zebras Bistro & Wine Bar, before opening a pop up restaurant called Pelekasis, until August 2016. He is currently chef at Doretta Taverna & Raw Bar, and in April 2018, he appeared on Beat Bobby Flay, but lost in the first round. Quotes *(After noticing it's William Shatner) "Captain Fucking Kirk!" *"Bret just slapped me on my ass. Things are turning around." *(About Milly) "Look, Milly's misdirecting years of anger about something in his life that I don't think is my fault." *(After being eliminated) "I think Milly thinks I'm someone that I'm not. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Well, I'm definitely not the worst cook here. These kids in there that should washing dishes in my restaurant. Chef Ramsay definitely made the wrong call tonight. His loss." External Links * Category:Chef Category:Season 14 Category:Bay Staters Category:13th Place